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// 10) Attribute Training: Fear 
// Story: Lost into Shadow 
// by Lucidenn 
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There is no passion so contagious as that of fear.
~Michel de Montaigne

"Now that you have sufficiently mastered the first lesson, it is time that we move on to what are known as the Attributes of black magic. Though there are dozens of Attributes, they can be grouped and condensed to the basics, which will constitute the rest of your training."

Twilight nodded her head in understanding, her green and violet eyes staring at him intently, hanging eagerly upon his every word.

Withholding the urge to smirk in self-satisfaction, Sombra motioned with his hoof for Twilight to stand nearer to the crystal before continuing his lecture. "First of all, be aware that any black magic spell can be cast by simply summoning the negative energy and harnessing it for the spell. This however, is equivalent to using a blunt knife for every situation. It will still achieve the intended purpose, but it costs the caster much more energy, and the result is at best inefficient and amateurish. The Attributes of black magic fix this problem. By 'aligning' with an Attribute, or a combination of Attributes, the spell you cast becomes a properly honed blade; costing less energy and effort to wield, and allowing exponentially more precise and powerful effects."

The gears in Twilight's brain churned away furiously with this new information. What an intriguing concept, that these 'Attributes' whatever they where, could have such a significant effect on a spell. Though her imagination quickly cooked up dozens of theories and wild speculations on what they could be and how exactly 'aligning' with them could alter a spell's nature, she decided to instead ask the most pertinent and immediate question.

"So how does this help with proceeding to the next chamber to begin the next lesson? And how am I supposed to travel through the black crystal, when you yourself said I would only be able to do so when I had completed my training with you?"

My my my, this mare never missed a detail did she? With yet another chuckle, Sombra replied. "That is correct, but I have layered within each level's crystal a form of transport enchantment encoded to take you directly to the corresponding platform. Each platform has a specific Attribute that we will train on, so to move on to the next level you must be able to align with that attribute while in physical contact with the crystal node. Think of each Attribute as a ticket for a specific station, and the transport enchantment as the train that will take you to your destination for you. The first Attribute you must align with is Fear."

Without another word he stepped back and away from the crystal node, leaving her room to focus without distractions. Twilight's eyes however followed him as he sauntered back several meters before lazily lying down and crossing his forelegs. After several minutes of silence passed between them, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration as she realized he was not going to continue.

"Aren't you going to tell me what exactly this 'alignment' is or how to do it?" She demanded with a small stomp of her hoof.

"Oh you're a clever mare, you'll figure out something."

Twilight shot Sombra and his silly, impish grin a frosty glare before turning her full attention to the crystal in front of her. Though seemingly solid black at first, the longer she stared the more she noticed that deep within the inky depths of the latticework, something was moving. Fascinated, she leaned closer, straining her eyes to track the almost imperceptible shapes floating inside. Despite her best efforts however she could not quite discern them, for the images and shapes within the crystal flitted about like shadows in peripheral vision; each time she tried to focus on one they disappeared.

Clank

As preoccupied as she was with the depths of the crystal, Twilight hadn't even noticed how close she was getting until her horn bumped up against its shiny surface. Immediately she felt her body freeze, unable to move a single muscle. That however, was the least of her worries, for as soon as her horn made contact the moving shapes within the crystal poured themselves into her mind like a torrent of anguish. Each image was a miniature movie that lasted a fraction of a second, but to her each one lasted a lifetime.  She watched as Fluttershy fled in blind panic from the froggy bottom bog as the hydra chased her down. Her terror could not lend her enough speed though, as slowly it gained on her and with one hungry lung closed its enormous jaws around her. Twilight watched as Rarity sought cover from a manticore. Poor, valiant Spike sought to protect her and distracted the beast, but it was not enough; the beast roared and raised its paw ready to bloody the pony's pristine cloak, as behind it Spike slowly felt his grip on the world flow away through the gaping hole in the middle of his chest. Applejack, her hind legs bent at all the wrong angles, desperately clawing at the grass of her apple acres, trying to get away from the flames engulfing the precious trees all around her.

On and on it went, until Twilight surely felt she would go mad. Out of desperation to save her sanity she screamed again and again in the confines of her skull, putting everything into just making her neck jerk away. Suddenly her vision was left black and empty, and silence crashed around her. Ever so slowly, her senses recovered, and she noticed that her connection to the crystal had been mercifully severed. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage, like a rabid animal trying to escape. She could see her breath in front of her as she panted, and her purple coat was heavy with sweat.

She turned to Sombra, both angry and panicked, trying her best to form a thought to voice her distress; however the longer she looked at him the more her mind cleared and determination took its hold. He was just sitting there, watching her, waiting so expectantly. It was infuriating! It was like he was just waiting for her to quit, to give up.....to fail. Not a word passed between them, and yet she turned back to the crystal node, breathing back under control and a fierce tenacity set ablaze in her soul. She'd show him. There hasn't been a test that she'd ever failed or backed down from, and she certainly wasn't going to start now. With one last deep breath, she closed her eyes and connected her horn once more.

As the purple alicorn turned back to the crystal without a word, Sombra smiled with satisfaction. Where he had expected to feel surprise at the change in her reaction, instead he felt some sort of pride (and though he'd never admit it) perhaps a smidgeon of admiration. Here was Celestia's prized pet, and yet for every challenge he'd given her she'd quickly surpassed it with a combination of raw capability and her acute focus. Even now, she had stopped her quaking and wincing, resuming a state of steadfast determination. Only time could tell now how far she could make it in the training, and what she would do with it afterwards. Sombra stood up, it was time to assist her now that she'd gotten over the initial shock. Gently lifting her horn away from the crystal node with his magic, he tapped her on the shoulder so as to get her attention.

"Do you know why you are failing?"
This clearly aggravated the purple mare, but as she opened her mouth to give what was doubtlessly going to be a sharp retort he cut her off by continuing.
"Tell me this, what is fear? How do you define it?"

Twilight forced her mouth closed and her frustration to the side. He wouldn't be asking such a question if it were not key to learning the lesson. But defining fear was like defining the word "thought". It was such an ambiguous term, a feeling that wasn't even consistent because each pony felt fear differently. The only commonality was that all ponies felt fear in some way, for the loss of property, for death, for change. As her thoughts trailed farther along these lines however, a pattern emerged. The source of fear could be simplified down to two simple words: The end.

"Fear is the emotion caused by endings. The most primal fear is the fear of death, the end of life, or the lives of those around us. But there is fear in new ideas or society as well, for it is the end of what is comfortable and known, or at the least a perceived ending."

"Excellent. You hold a unique gift Twilight Sparkle; to be able to recognize the seed of truth beyond the surface of what is commonly understood is no easy task. And yet, you grasp at it as easily as a dragon breaths flame, I've not seen such talent for many eons."

Her green eyes widened at the unexpected compliment, wafting perhaps just a tad more purple energy as her chest puffed out with pride.

"Now that we have defined fear, remember that fear is a source of dark magic. While harnessing the emotion of fear has its uses for generating raw energy, to align with fear and harness its true potential for the dark craft you must become fear itself. Consider the field mouse scurrying for food in the silent forest night. It cannot place the feeling, but something makes it pause it's search and listen uneasily to the unforgiving night. Too late, the feeling of something amiss causes it's back hair to stand on end. Turning around it only has time to watch the talons of an owl descend to rip into flesh. Be the owl Twilight, hunt the mouse and know the immobilizing terror that you bring its final moments."

Nodding slowly, and a bit uneasily, Twilight turned back to the crystal node. Sombra had simply described a perfectly normal part of the life of a predator. She'd simply be stepping into it's proverbial shoes is all, even though the idea of inflicting such physical and emotional pain still churned her stomach. Forcing such thoughts down, she focused. There were her wings, covered in downy feathers made for silent flight. They were mottled like the wood of an oak tree, floating upon the still night air with an ethereal grace. Tucked underneath her were her talons, serrated weapons ready for the hunt. She felt the muscles in her heart shaped face shift as she picked up the turning of leaves and a tiny heartbeat nearby. Before long her prey's position was triangulated, and she spiraled downwards as silently as a leaf falls. Outside, Twilight's softly glowing horn descended with her mental self as with a screech of victory her talons stretched forth to tear the mouse asunder. At that moment her horn reconnected with the crystal, and she could suddenly feel the mouse's point of view overlapping with her own. An alabaster face, ferocious and cold eclipsing the moon and the perceived agony of death as the terrible talons fell down upon it. A strange feeling rose from deep within her, it was, exhilarating. This feeling of power over the mouse, and the way it had seen her in its final moments; she was magnificent.

Twilight opened her eyes in time to see tendrils of darkness had wrapped themselves around her, dissolving her flesh into shadow and dragging her into the crystal's depths. With a blink of the eye, she was standing, whole again, atop a rock platform approximately twenty meters above the ground level. Behind her she noticed Sombra materialize from the black crystal as well.

"Congratulations Twilight, you can now align with the attribute of fear." Sombra was forced to admit that she was proceeding much faster than expected, once again. Not five minutes ago she was quaking from emotional onslaught, and now here she stood successful and..... There was something wrong, instead of pride his compliment was met with a wince and downcast eyes. The violet energy had ceased to waft, and her eyes were the lightest lime color, dangerously close to reverting back to their natural white.

"Sombra, I..., I uh"

He had to stop her, and quickly. She'd seen a glimpse of the bottom of the rabbit hole, and now she was doubting her choice in jumping inside. If he didn't act quickly she might scamper back up and burry her massive potential forever.

"Twilight, you managed to align with fear by putting yourself in the position of the owl, so now I ask you to consider this: If fear, being a negative emotion, is a powerful source of dark magic, and if therefore by aligning with it you become fear itself, is the owl evil?"

Sombra's question caught Twilight completely off guard. "Off course the owl's not evil, hunting is just how it lives, it's just doing what it was born to do!"

"Yes, of course you would say that, your pegasus friend would be proud. Yet if the owl is simply doing what it was meant to do, then how is it that being the cause of the mouse's fear is such a potent source of the black craft? Only evil begets evil, so how can the owl not be evil after all? Think upon this, ponder it in the corners of your mind. When you have the answer, you will be able to use the black crystals without assistance, and ascend back to your library above, your training complete."

The bemused look on the mare's face told Sombra that he'd been successful. He'd not intended to pose the question to her until much later in the training, but at least for now, she'd stopped questioning herself. Now it was time to proceed, she'd be ready now to let him guide her all the way down the rabbit hole until the very end.

Up above in her library, on its special cushion rested her crown and Element of Harmony. As Twilight's horn had just made the final contact with the ground level crystal node and successfully become fear itself, the purple jewel that was the Element of Magic began to pulse ever so softly with light. Scattered through Ponyville, the other Elements responded to the warning and began to pulse themselves while their owners slept on unaware.

Back below ground, Sombra was introducing her to the uses for fear, and her new practice room. This cavern was much smaller than the last, barely as large as the main room of her library and completely empty of anything. The only interesting quality to this room was that every surface was perfectly smooth and polished. She found her hooves slipping a tad too easily on the marble floor, and if she leaned in close enough to the walls, she could practically see her reflection in the stone.

"For the purpose of dark magic, to become fear itself allows us to take it by hoof and wield it. When wielding this attribute illusionary magic becomes enhanced, and draws its form from the subconscious of the target. With fear we are able to disorient, and with proper handling, control our targets. To practice this, you will need NPCs."

In response, Twilight cocked her head to the left. "NPCs?"

"Neurological Pony Constructs. I temporarily bind the shadow of a pony in equestria to a rock body that I will create here. The result is a semi-intelligent golem that will carry with it the subconscious and some memories of its owner so that you may practice wielding the fear attribute."

Twilight could only stare dumbfounded at Sombra as he turned to the center of the floor and began to manipulate it into the familiar shape of a target practice statue. He spoke of plucking the reflection of a pony's mind and binding it to a statue to bring it to life and create a golem as if it were as easy as spreading butter on toast! The shear complexity of the task, and the delicacy required to pull it off surely surpassed even a time spell in difficulty. She was beginning to see why it had taken both royal sisters and the elements of harmony together to defeat Sombra all those centuries ago.

"How will practicing on these NPC's affect the ponies whose shadows we're using?"

Unsuccessfully, Sombra tried to hide the gleam in his eyes as he chuckled maliciously. "Don't worry your pretty head princess. At the very worst they might experience mild....discomfort, while they sleep."

His response didn't exactly inspire confidence, but Twilight shrugged off her unease. It could not be helped, she would just need to get through this and just focus on the fact that they were simply golems. There before her in the center of the room now stood a yellow mare with a fluffy orange mane. Three proud carrots adorned each flank, identifying the pony as Carrot Top from Ponyville. In fact, the golem was so like the original, Twilight could only tell it wasn't really her Ponyville friend because she'd watched its construction, and the way it looked around the cavern as if it barely registered where it was.

"Now Twilight, I want you to focus on a basic visual and auditory illusion spell. Now, when you have that firmly prepared in the back of your mind, I want you to focus on becoming the owl again, becoming fear. This pony shall be your mouse. Focus, and when you are ready, strike and observe the rewards of attribute alignment!"

Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Somewhere inside she could feel a voice trying to reason with her, trying to tell her that visualizing the pony before her as the mouse from before was wrong and would not actually help her. Nonetheless, Twilight's focus was absolute, and so the voice was drowned in a swirl of silence as the moonlit forest landscape revisited her mind. She didn't even notice how quickly she'd fallen back into the mental landscape, and she didn't notice that she found the mouse nearly twice as fast this time.

"Excellent, well done princess. Bind the illusion spell to your talons, and strike with a terror the night has never known."

Owl-Twilight heard the voice on the wind, deep and powerful as a lion. She readied her talons to do as he had said, only to find that she'd already done so reflexively, it was all too easy! She didn't even have to try, it was like the magic was leaping to her, eager to be wielded. As her talons flashed down, her eyes opened to witness reality. At first nothing seamed to happen, the Carrot Top golem just stood there blankly looking around, until a purple light flashed from its eyes as they widened in horror. From nowhere a powerful wind howled around her as black mist boiled up from the ground. Though it tore at her mane, Twilight could not feel a thing, it must have been part of the illusion she'd unleashed.

She couldn't help but to smile at herself, the illusion was very convincing for the golem within, and the voice within her was greatly relieved that this was the worst of the spell. For the first time that night however, she couldn't have been more wrong. Slowly from the boiling shadows formed a grotesque monstrosity. It was a horribly disfigured pony with parasitic mushrooms blossoming from its flesh. One eyeball was gouged apart by the thorny flower growing out of it, and this pony's five legs all stuck out at disturbing angles that should not have been possible for any creature. The golem took one look at the creature and fled in blind panic, but each direction it turned it found only the reflection of the beast in the glossy walls. Finally pausing for breath, Carrot Top looked at her nightmare over her shoulder; however while she wasn't looking, its reflection in the wall suddenly reached out and clamped around her throat. She struggled in vain as the original creature creeped closer and closer, until her terror proved too much. Carrot Top flailed ever more erratically as her eyes rolled back in to her head and her mouth frothed with madness, unable to even force the breath from the lungs to let loose her screams.

"Stop it! Stop it! Sombra make it stop!"

"You are the caster, if you choose then you must be the one to break the spell."

Twilight could not however, the spell was feeding off the fear of her victim, so there was no link of power for her to sever. She tried fire spells and and magic missiles, and powerful temporal distortion fields, all in attempt to disrupt and destroy the spell she'd unleashed. All to no avail. By this time both creatures had begun to sink their teeth into Carrot Top's flesh, and she'd found her voice again to fill the cavern air with blood-curdling screams. There was only one thing she could do, she could think of nothing else. Gathering a black aura of destruction to her horn, she blinked away the tears from her eyes and obliterated her victim from existence.

With nothing left to feed on, the living nightmare collapsed in on itself and returned to nothingness; leaving the purple princess to sob uncontrollably on the cavern floor, all trace of green gone from her eyes. Sombra slowly strode up to stand directly next to her, waiting for her to look up and acknowledge his presence. As her tear-stained eyes met the cold ruby of his, he had but few words to say to her. "Once again you lack control Twilight Sparkle. If this were real, you would now be a murderer. Her death would lie squarely on your shoulders. Tomorrow, we shall try again. You shall either succeed and continue, or you shall fail and forever have to live with the knowledge that when you unleash your true power, you will kill those you hold dear."

Twilight was absolutely crushed by his words, wracked with guilt by what she had done to Carrot Top, golem or not. She curled up into the fetal position and sobbed herself to sleep as Sombra walked away, grinning wickedly to himself at the control he now had over her. One way or another, he felt certain that through his guidance, Twilight would bring about her own destruction.